


Revelations I

by JoelJansenD



Series: Inquisitor Joanna [1]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types
Genre: Kirkwall (Dragon Age), Magic, Venatori, dragon - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 08:14:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17341799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoelJansenD/pseuds/JoelJansenD
Summary: After defending Haven from Corypheus's army, Joanna has no choice but to tell Blackwall the truth.





	Revelations I

Snow and ashes danced their way to the ground, cloaking the mountains in a ghostly grey coat. Joanna felt the heat of Haven's fires burn in her neck. All she had built and fought for, torn down by the vague shade of an unknown enemy. She dropped to a knee, sword plunged into the snow-covered ground, and closed her eyes in search of absolution, deliverance before her oncoming demise.  
    'She will know no fear of death, for the Maker shall be her beacon and her shield...'  
    'Her foundation...'  
    'And her sword,' she continued, before looking up at the man who stood beside her. 'I thought I had made myself clear, Blackwall.'  
    'You have, your Worship,' the Warden said, his tone matching the look of confidence in his grey, sunken eyes. 'But I promised to protect, not to follow.'  
    'You want to protect? Protect the people in the Chantry.'  
    'They're in the Inquisition's very capable hands. Besides, the best way to protect _them_ is by helping _you_ fight off these godless bastards.'  
    They stared over the valley, watching the remnants of their attacker's army regroup, like tiny red blots of paint on a white canvas. 'I don't think Andraste will approve of you disobeying Her herald's command.'  
    'Then I have to ask you to put in a good word for me when the time comes.'  
    Joanna made no effort hiding her amusement. 'So, we'll meet at the bar?'  
    'First one to go buys.'

* * *

With the mages and Venatori funnelled over a thin path, Blackwall was barely able to keep the danger at bay. Joanna had to tap into her deepest reserves to prepare the last trebuchet, which had jammed several times, to fire a rock into the mountain, levelling Haven and burying the invading army. She was seconds away from pulling the lever and thereby fulfilling their plan when a hollow, screeching roar echoed through the mountains. A black-scaled dragon, only noticeable against the night's sky through red growths spread over her body, came gliding in. Her roar unleashed a wave of crackling, red lightning. The rock Blackwall used to block off the path shattered. The energy that was released pushed him and the attackers away.

With Blackwall nowhere in sight, Joanna had no choice but to let go of the trebuchet, at least for the time being, to focus on the horde of zealots swarming in. Her sword found its way through many of the incoming Venatori with ease, especially considering the effort it took to prepare the trebuchet. Their weapons failed to as much as scratch her armour, with every strike missing its target. Arrows bounced from her shield, and the mages' spells failed to even connect, evaporating mere inches away from the warrior. But Joanna knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up. It wouldn't be long before enemy forces had her overwhelmed and her defences would fall.

The dragon had vanished from sight, but returned shortly after initially striking. Another wave of lightning followed, setting the wooden platform beneath the trebuchet aflame and slinging the Herald through the air. The silhouette of a tall, gaunt man approached from behind the wall of fire.  
The figure passed through the flames, uncaring of its searing heat. The man's face was wrapped tight around his skull, with deep cuts in what little flesh his face had left. Red growths, much like the growths on the dragon, framed the left side of his head. The ground shook as the dragon landed behind Joanna, squashing some of the Venatori beneath her claws. She crawled closer until she stared Andraste's chosen in her eyes, inches away. The dragon let out a fiendish howl.  
    'Enough,' the man yelled with a voice as hollow as the dragon's.  
    'Fight me if you must,' Joanna said, tightly holding the grip of her sword. 'I don't fear you.'  
    'Lies, thrown at the dark, the unknown. I know this because once they were mine.' The man threw his long, thin arm, burned skin wrapped around its bones, forward. An orb, emanating red light, soared through the air, coming to a stop between the man and Joanna. From a clawed hand, he released a bolt of red lightning into the orb. Joanna felt her hand drawn to it. Andraste's mark burst, unleashing beams of green energy into the orb.  
    'Soon, you will see, you will _all_ see that this is nothing but a mistake,' he continued. 'My creation, stolen by a trespasser.'  
    'Impossible,' Joanna yelled. The pain of Her mark being pulled from her hand echoed in her voice. 'It was His gift.' Joanna tried to move, but the pain had left her paralysed.  
    'It is no gift, it is a weapon, crafted by my hand to assault the very heavens. I breached the Veil before, to serve our gods, the gods of my empire, in person.  
    'But I found nothing but chaos, corruption. And now I have returned, to champion the echoes of my Tevinter to return to be the roar it once was. Pray that I succeed. Pray that one day, you can bow to the will of Corypheus, for I have seen the throne of the Maker, and it was _empty_.'

* * *

Blackwall's left hand sought for his side, hoping to find some comfort from the pain. He tried to focus his blurry vision as he climbed his way back to the trebuchet, which towered high above him, the result of what must have been a 20-foot drop if not more. With every cough, runaway strands of his beard found their way into the warrior's mouth, and more blood covered his right hand. Despite his injuries, he got lucky. Some of the Venatori fell even further, through the frozen lake to die a horrible, ice-cold death.

With great difficulty, Blackwall climbed his way back to the platform and, for a second, the thought that his eyes betrayed him crossed his mind. A man, Tevinter judging by his robes, was duelling the Herald, accompanied by the dragon that attacked him. _Those growths... could it be? No, impossible! The mage has them too, it must be something else._  
    'And now I have returned, to champion the echoes of my Tevinter to return to be the roar it once was,' the mage said. _His? What could he mean by that?_  
    'Pray that I succeed. Pray that one day, you can bow to the will of Corypheus, for I have seen the throne of the Maker, and it was _empty_.' _Maker's balls, is he for real? And why isn't the Herald running?_

A sudden shriek caught Corypheus's attention. He looked to his dragon to see her screeching in agony. She swung her tail frantically, hoping to cure herself of the source of the pain. Blackwall, with great effort, managed to retain a distance between himself and the dragon all while holding his sword in place and ducking the occasional swinging tail. With the Magister distracted, Joanna saw a chance to break his spell. She ran to the trebuchet, her hand still searing with pain. It wasn't properly aimed yet, the possibility of this working was small, but they had run out of options. There was no chance that they were going to defeat a Magister and an Archdemon by themselves, _this_ was their only chance of bringing the bastard down with them. She pulled the lever, dropping the construct's counterweight and slinging the rock into the mountainside in the distance.

The ground started shaking as the mountain's snow slowly began to slide forward. As seconds passed, the pile of snow grew bigger. The few trees that grew against the mountain's surface lost their fight against this force and were torn from the ground. Corypheus, astounded by the Herald's action, threw Blackwall from his dragon with a wave of his hand, before leaving the village on the dragon's back.  
    'Blackwall, we have to go, now!'  
    'I don't think I can outrun this, your Worship,' said Blackwall, holding onto his side.  
    'Don't you dare,' Joanna yelled, her eyes projecting a frightening anger Blackwall hadn't seen from her ever since they met. 'You promised to lay down your life _for the people_ , and I'll make sure you'll live up to that promise. Even if it means I'll have to haul your crippled ass out of here myself!'

* * *

Joanna helped Blackwall down on one of the benches in the Chantry after making it to safety with little more than seconds to spare. He hung his head back and held his eyes tightly shut in an attempt to take his mind off the pain. But with every breath, he was reminded of the injuries caused, not only by his fall but by the dragon as well.  
    'Your Worship, that thing...' Blackwall said slowly, grunting in between words as he tried to breathe.  
    'We will defeat him, Blackwall.'  
    'Not him. That beast he brought... that was an Archdemon.'  
    'That thing was an Archdemon?' Joanna sat down beside him and buried her face in her hands. 'What has He put me into?'  
    After a moment of thought, Joanna climbed back up. 'These are problems for another day. Right now, we need to patch you up and get back to the others. There should be herbs and bandages somewhere around here, I'll–'  
    'I saw Sera and the kid gather them before I ran over.'  
    'So there's nothing left? Shit... Alright, take off your armour, I need to look at your wounds.'  
    'Maker's balls, I won't make it past the night without bandages anyway! Leave me, go find the others and end that sorry bastard.'  
    'You don't get to decide whether you live or die, Warden. Not tonight. Now take off that armour or I'll crack your other ribs too.'

The wounds on Blackwall's body, caused by the dragon's thorny tail-end, had started to fester mere minutes after he suffered them. Joanna scraped the infected tissue aside to have a closer look, before realising that herbs, bandages or other mundane methods weren't going to suffice.  
    'I have an idea,' she said after a short moment of consideration, 'but I don't think you're going to like it.'  
    'If it involves maggots, I'd rather join the Maker...' He smiled wryly, yet some relief was noticeable in his voice.  
    'Just sit still, that's all you'll have to do,' said Joanna.

I am not alone. Even  
As I stumble on the path  
With my eyes closed, yet I see  
The Light is here.

    'I am not alone,' Joanna whispered to herself.  
    'Even as I stumble on the path.' She began to rub her hands together.  
    'with my eyes closed, yet I see.' Suddenly, a bright light started radiating from between her hands.  
    'The Light is here,' she said, before pressing her hands on Blackwall's wounds.

The pain faded away, leaving behind a warmth Blackwall had not expected to ever feel again. As the wound closed, he stared at Joanna and noticed the ears that slowly creeped out of her eye.  
    'You're a mage?' he asked, shocked by this sudden revelation. Joanna nodded, unable to speak.  
    'Do the others know?'  
    'No... and you need to promise me they won't find out.'


End file.
